The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced its priorities for enforcing the nation's fishery laws in the coming year.

In the Northeast region, top priority is assigned to monitoring fish landings, enforcing reporting requirements and preventing harassment of fishery observers.

The document outlining the priorities was released this week. It is the culmination of a process that began with a National Enforcement Summit held in August 2010 in an effort to improve its enforcement program, according to NOAA.

"We have conducted a number of outreach and education events in order to help industry better understand regulations and to ensure we understand the issues they are facing and concerns they have," said Logan Gregory, a NOAA special agent, in an email to The Standard-Times.

NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement was criticized in an audit conducted by Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser in January 2010.

The report found that New England fishermen were assessed fines far exceeding those in other parts of the country. The audit also found that money collected in fines by the Office of Law Enforcement was used to buy expensive vehicles, a luxury yacht and to fund overseas junkets.

After the report became public NOAA's top administrator Jane Lubchenco called for an overhaul of NOAA's law enforcement policy.

Creating the new priorities was a collaborative effort, involving input from commercial and recreational fishermen, the regional fishery management councils, state agencies and nongovernmental organizations, according to Gregory.

"It is a yearly process and we will be seeking input again as we continuously assess our priorities," he said.

The NOAA document is available online at nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/docs/2012/ole_priorities_2012.pdf.